Coyote in Plainfield?

Someone who posts on the Star-Ledger forum reported seeing a coyote recently at Central Avenue and Randolph Road with animal prey in its jaws. Another resident also saw the coyote and called police, she reported.

Maybe that explains the smelly, mauled carcass that Maria and I encountered a few weeks ago on the Randolph Road border of Cedar Brook Park. I surmised that a hawk may have made the kill, never imagining that a coyote might be in the vicinity.

Coyotes are not always brown, as I thought. They can be black, blond or red, according to the state Division of Fish and Wildlife. They hunt both day and night.

Read more here.

Anyone who sees a coyote is advised to notify both the police and the Division of Fish and Wildlife.

Many people see deer in the city and on my block near Park & Seventh we have seen skunks, raccoons and opossums. Sometimes a rabbit can be seen nibbling grass in front of Municipal Court on Watchung Avenue. A few years ago, a black bear wandered into the West End and climbed a tree on Grant Avenue. Coyotes have increased in number and it is quite possible that they are invading urban areas.

--Bernice Paglia